Category: Crafts

Happy Labor Day weekend, my few readers! I hope you all are having a great weekend so far.

Crochet As You Are typically focuses strictly on knitting and crochet topics, but since fashion/clothing/style is almost always the main topic, I’ve decided to stray just a smidgen from strictly knitting/crochet and include some fashion/style/clothing ideas and inspiration.

I hope you guys will be okay with this mini change, or even better, I hope this will bring even more interest and inspiration to more readers. I mean, it’s not like us knitting and crochet addicts only enjoy or wear or discuss crochet and knitting, right?

Okay, okay, 96% of a knitter/crocheter’s discussion topics are about the craft we’re so addicted to, but we simply can’t fill our closets with only yarn-made items.

Don’t get me wrong, if it were possible for every clothing item a knitter/crocheter owns to be made of a snugly soft yarn, we’d probably be all over it.

So Crochet As You Are will begin to focus just a little bit on fashion and inspiration more often.

As the first fashion, non-yarn-related photo ever to be posted here on Crochet As You Are, I would like to feature something similar to what many fashion bloggers call an “OOTD,” which stands for “Outfit Of The Day,” but with a twist — I’ll be sharing some ideas I’ve been pondering regarding the blouse in the OOTD that I plan to re-vamp using crochet!

I’ve been considering re-vamping the neckline of this blouse for a long time now. Of course, my idea includes incorporating my addiction to crochet. The blouse is nice and comfortable, but I rarely wear it because the elastic neckline is so huge and loose that it hangs open.

I’ve accumulated many ideas in this warped brain of mine as to what I could do, and I keep coming back to the idea of reconstructing it using a lovely crochet yoke of some type. I think it’d be beautiful if I could manage something like Irish lace. Little flowers crocheted in a light, cream colored thread and probably racer-back style. I could imagine that being a nice addition to this casual top.

In fact, since I’ve already managed to yack about it, I might as well show a photo that is similar to what I have in mind for the blouse you see in my outfit photos above:

As for the rest of this OOTD (if you could even call it that,) here are more photos of the outfit along with earrings and the shoes.

By the way, the jewelry is all hand-made by me. The owl earrings and necklace are two of my favorite pieces. If you just so happen to be interested, these can be ordered from Laughing Flamingo.

Oh, and those awesome sandals? My precious love got them for me, and the store just so happened to offer a random discount, so instead of $30-something, I think they ended up costing like $15! I love a fabulous deal like that, and these sandals are total perfection. I adore the blingy sparkle and shine, and love that they transform an otherwise super casual outfit into something that looks more… glam and less flip-flops and t-shirt-y.

I shall run now. It’s 4AM and I’m ready to spend a few minutes knitting a pair of boot cuffs that I’m making to go in the store ( and I am on the verge of a great opportunity, I believe — the boot cuffs and jewelry I make just might be featured in a really awesome local store who may sell my line! Fingers crossed!)

Have a fantastic, fun Labor Day weekend everyone! Stay safe and do share your plans for the weekend! I love hearing from you guys.

So what are ya’ll going to be doing? Will you be celebrating Labor Day? If not, how are you going to spend your weekend? So far for us, we spent the evening with friends and my parents, twin sister, older sister, and nieces watching my nephew’s football game — okay, they watched the game and I knitted! LOL) and then we all came back to my parents’ for the night. Being that it’s 4AM now though, I’m the only one still awake.

As for tomorrow, I’ll be spending time with my nieces and nephews during the day today and then later we’ll (me and my very significant other, a couple friends, and family) will be celebrating — cooking hot dogs and S’mores over a fire.

Let me know how you plan to celebrate or not celebrate.
Be safe and have fun!

With the arrival of my brand new niece — who was born the day before the Fourth of July, I might add — I have been getting busy with my hook and needles!

Like many of you, I too love crocheting and knitting for new babies. In fact, babies are probably my favorite project-recipients… because they can’t yet express that they don’t adore my handiwork. Ha. Ha. I’m only half-kidding. 😉

Although I’ve had dozens of ideas swirling around in my yarn-obsessed head, I decided that my first project would be something quick and adorable that she could wear right away. A blanket doesn’t really fulfill the satisfaction of a quick project, so I went with an adorable, simple headband and of course, I used a bow as the big decoration point.

I followed a simple, very thorough photo tutorial for the bow found here – by Jess from Craftiness Is Not Optional.

– Jess from Craftiness is Not Optional
https://www.craftinessisnotoptional.com/2013/01/easy-crochet-bow-tutorialpattern.html

Jess makes this adorable bow so easy to construct that even the most beginner of all crochet beginners will be able to follow along! Thanks, Jess, for such intricate detail in your tutorial!

I chose Jess’ bow tutorial over the others available on the Internet because I loved the thickness of the one she makes. Instead of just one thin, flimsy crochet panel, she uses a long-ish strip and folds the sides inwards, creating a bow that looks nice, is sturdy, and has more of a “bow” appearance.

The bow is basically a crocheted rectangle piece that turns into a perfect little bow when several inches of yarn is wrapped tightly around the center, pulling the center inward so that the rectangle takes on a real bow effect. I love it!

I have also crocheted a larger, slightly different bow headband for my 4 year old niece, only I used a neon pink for the wrapped center part and a turquoise bow and band. It’s absolutely adorable on her cute little head! I will be getting photo of that one and posting them here as well.

Here are the pair of colorful sandals I made to go with the bow for my newest niece:

Easter is coming up, and as promised, I’ve scoured all available resources and compiled a beautiful list of 10 free Easter crochet patterns for all of you who are filled with spring inspiration and have your hooks ready for all things Easter. Are you as excited about the upcoming warm weather and bright colors as I am?

And the pattern, from Lion Brand, is not only beginner-friendly, but free too!

Some kid is going to have one very special basket to collect his/her Easter eggs in this Easter!

2.
If it isn’t a colorful, floppy-eared bunny basket that would make you grab your hook n’ yarn, then perhaps this totally “awww!-worthy” basket, complete with a precious bow will.
The free pattern/tutorial is available from Jam Made.

3.
If you’ve got spring fever, then this granny square with a butterfly crocheted on top might be the perfect spring project for you. Imagine an afghan full of these brightly colored critters.

The free pattern, by Luana Gay Stoker is available on FaveCrafts.
I think a grey square background with multi-colored butterflies would be lovely.

4.

These pastel colored Easter egg coasters are fun for Easter time, if you are a coaster-user. If you aren’t, these are almost enough to make you want to start using them!

The free pattern is available by Whiskers and Wool here. I love this blog!

5.
These itsy bitsy adorable little bunnies really bring on the Peeps cravings!
Free pattern for these cuties, which are another Whiskers & Wool design. I told you that blog was fabulous!

They look like quick little fellas to crochet at the last minute, and could make fun gifts or Easter egg hunt surprises.

Note: The pattern is a download, so when you click this link and arrive at the Whiskers & Wool blog, be sure to click the “download” link, which you’ll find directly below the image as a caption.

6.
Forget those ol’ plastic Easter eggs and toss in a few of these bright, gorgeous crocheted ones for a change of pace!
https://ladycrochet.blogspot.com/2011_03_01_archive.htmlThe pattern — offered for free by the lovely Inge at Lady Crochet — is a bit addictive, as the Lady Crochet warns. Once you finish making one egg, you may not be able to stop.

But that’s okay. Crochet away.

7.

Crochet a bazillion little chicks to go along with the bazillion little eggs you just finished.

An easy-to-follow pattern is available on Garn Studio, for free by Drops Design and can be accessed here.

Note: This little fella does require some stuffing.

8.
This is another little chick, although he is miniature (only 1.5′ tall!) but I think he is much cuter than the one above.

There’s a free pattern available at LucyRavenscar, so follow along if you’d like to create this cutie.

Just imagine a basket full (perhaps a *crocheted* basket full) of an assortment of different colored mini chicks! I’m thinking one in every pastel color — purple, blue, yellow, a light green, etc.

The cutest egg cozy ever! Just slide an egg inside and hide. This cutie will make a very fun Easter egg hunt!

That’s this bunny – a good thing in a small package. I think I know a few adults and kids who’d both love an itty bitty bunny like this fella.

10.

What Easter crochet frenzy wouldn’t be complete without such an adorable little bunny-eared hat?

Right?

But, try the hat and matching (too adorable!) diaper cover, too, and then send your many thanks to Sarah at Repeat Crafter Me for such an outstanding and free pattern because your little one is totally gonna rock this cute outfit!

Well, I hope these lovely free Easter crochet patterns have you as inspired as they have me, and if you’re like me, your hands are itching to be holdin’ a hook and strand of yarn right now! Spring is coming up (I know we still have quite a while) and boy do those ideas start going wild. I wonder if I’m the only knitter/crocheter who starts getting project crazy when a new season is coming up? I start thinking of all the new projects and garments I can begin making for the new season. Yet I typically don’t even get to complete half of them! Lol.

Giveaway by FaveCrafts
Image source: FaveCrafts
FaveCrafts is like the ultimate online hangout for crafters. I’ve been quite the diligent subscriber to them due to their continous free patterns they offer for knitters and crocheters. Not to mention their array of projects and ideas for every other craft on the planet.

While I spend a lot of time browsing the FaveCrafts website, I don’t often enter the giveaways they feature. Mostly because I’ve never won anything in my life, and usually don’t have time to really get into entering any giveaways.

However, FaveCrafts feature some really amazing giveaways, and sometimes when I have spare time on my hands, I find it impossible to pass up entering. Particularly, the huge craft supply giveaway they have running right now.

Head on over to FaveCrafts right now to enter the giveaway yourself, then you can come back to finish reading this post, if you want to.

The deadline is February 28, 2015, but you can enter the giveaway once every single day up until the deadline!

You can also earn extra entries by sharing the giveaway on your social media sites, as well as an extra entry by featuring the giveaway on your blog, like I’m doing right now. 😉

If you’re a subscriber of FaveCrafts newsletter, you’ll be notified of their bi-weekly giveaways via e-mail, so you can enter the giveaways as soon as they go live. I subscribe and get their newsletter to check out their free patterns and craft ideas every week, and that is how I knew of the giveaway that’s going on right now. For some reason, this time, I felt compelled to enter this one, and perhaps I’ll manage to find time to continue entering their giveaways from now on. Just the thought of winning a craft supply giveaway as ginormous as this one is enough to get my heart rate up a little!

Winning this kind of giveaway would really have any crafter all set for all kinds of new crafting adventures!

To see a list of all the giveaways running by FaveCrafts right now, you can click here and go through to find the giveaways you want to enter, if you would like to enter more than the one giveaway.

Being a lover of crochet, knitting, beading, and many other crafts, I basically stalk FaveCrafts everywhere online. I find a lot of awesome, free patterns and inspiration from their Twitter posts as well, so if you’re like me and want more, you can follow them there, too.

Now that my entries are all in, I’m going to take a crochet break myself. I’m working on yet another garment at the moment. I’ve only gotten as far as the chains so far! But will be starting the first actual row any minute now! Wish me luck. I’m really hoping this one turns out stunning.

Do you guys enter giveaways? Craft giveaways only, or do you enter all sorts of different ones? Have you ever won anything? I’d love to hear your stories! Also, if you guys know of other giveaways going on, go ahead and share those with me, too, if you like.

Oh, stay tuned for a post I’ll be doing on a shawl I’m currently knitting (yes, I’m working on two projects at once.) I’ll be uploading photos of the finished Io Shawl from Willow Yarns, and will also be doing a review sometime very soon (when I can finally finish the shawl.) The pattern has been the most frustrating, complicated knitting pattern I have yet to attempt, so it’s a slow-go, but I’m doing my best to get the beauty finished so that I can feature it here as soon as possible! I hope you’ll stay on the lookout for it.

Almost as soon as he arrived at an aged-care village, Alfred Date was told by the nurses who knew of his ability to knit that the Phillip Island Penguin Foundation was in need of sweaters for animals.

That’s how the incredible 109 year old Alfie, who’s first attempt at knitting was a whopping 80 years ago — began his road to knitting loads of sweaters for little penguins. The following are some photos of penguins rocking hand-knit sweaters.

The Penguin Foundation makes it clear on their website that this call for sweaters is “not a fashion statement,” but that penguins can actually be killed by an oil patch the size of a thumb nail. A thumb nail! Holy smokes. I didn’t know this.

“When oiled penguins are admitted to the Wildlife Clinic at Phillip Island Nature Parks, a knitted jumper is placed on the penguins to prevent them from preening and swallowing the toxic oil before they are washed and the oil removed by staff, ” a statement on their website says.

The little bird sweaters knitted by Mr. Alfred and others helped save many lives of the Phillip Island penguins. The sweaters made it possible for 96% of the birds to be returned safely back to the wild, said the foundation.

What an inspiration Alfred is! Not only to knitters and other yarn-crafters, but to humanity as a whole, if you ask me. We may not all be able to donate, say, monetarily, but everyone has their own thing they can do to have an immensely positive impact on the world. It may be your handy-skills like Mr. Alfred, or it may be that you’re able to donate cash. It’s true that every one of us have something special to give, whether it’s to help our fellow humans or animals. Mr. Alfred’s story warmed my heart so much that I felt compelled to share what was a beautiful reminder to me — that we all have something to give, even those who may feel like they’re too far along in life to bother.

While the Penguin Foundation no longer has a need for sweaters, they are asking for donations with their “Adopt-A-Penguin” project where for $75+, you can adopt a penguin.

The Penguin Foundation aren’t the only ones to recognize, and fulfill wildlife’s needs by use of knitting. Take for example, the Wild Care Bay Area’s Baby Bird Nest campaign where 3,568 little bird nests were knitted to keep the baby birds warm in 2014!

Click here to see a video of these adorable little fellas enjoying their hand-knitted nests, and being bottle-fed, which is totally aww-worthy.Knitted Baby Bird Nests for WildCareBayArea.org CampaignImage source: https://www.wildcarebayarea.org

These folks are another example of combining human compassion with handy skills as a way to help wildlife in need. Like the Penguin Foundation, the Baby Bird Nest group also ran a successful campaign to warm up baby birds by calling for knitted beds! How beautiful is that?

While the Baby Bird groups is no longer in need of bird nests, although their website says they do plan to start the campaign for more nests this year — they still have the free instructions for knitting the nests available on their website, if anyone is interested in knitting a basket for their own pets, or those of your friends. Just be sure to make them bigger since a cat is typically much larger than a baby bird. One of the most common requests I get, as a knitter and crocheter is pet beds, as shocking as that is. Even I am surprised to get the request so often.

I think the little nests the birds are snuggling up inside are so adorable, and quite a genius idea! I’d have never thought of this, and I can see these also being an idea to incorporate for other in-need animals as well. I can only imagine the love a cat would have for one of these cute baskets!

I also happen to know that during the cold winter months, homeless animals like cats need shelter, and a lot of animal-groups put calls out around winter time asking folks to provide shelter methods for homeless cats, if they can. I recall seeing one lady’s beautiful, hard work in this exact area last winter. Perhaps this is something we can add to our arsenal of tools to help warm our fellow furry friends.

She had made it her mission to put together little cat homes for homeless cats in her area. She used those large plastic tubs you can get at Walmart or any dollar store for around $5-$10, filling them with warm materials, including those silver “things” made to be placed in the windshield of cars (to help hold in heat to keep kitties warm). Leaving the lid on the tubs, she placed them around areas she knew to be common for homeless cats.

The effort, love, compassion and work that goes into doing something like this for animals (and our fellow humans as well) has such a lasting impact on my heart. It really inspires me, and I hope that it will inspire you too, and warm your heart to no end.

What are some ways you (or stories you know of) have donated your handy-skills or time and effort to help animals and/or humans in need? Please share in the comments. I absolutely love hearing uplifting stories like these.

It’s the very first Monday of the new year 2015 and I found myself caught up checking out on-sale yarns. Being that it’s a new year and considering that most of the most popular yarn and craft suppliers didn’t exactly have to-die-for sales on yarn on New Year’s, I figured there must be a good sale coming soon. As I was checking my e-mail, I had one from Lion Brand and sure enough! They’re doing a sale on some select yarns, one of those being the “Amazing Yarn 3-skein value pack” which is 75% off the original price right now:Here’s a close-up of Lion Brand’s Constellation yarn from their Amazing Yarn line.

I can’t honestly say that I’m really digging any of the yarns I’m seeing on sale, and that unfortunately includes the Amazing Yarn. At 75% off, I have to admit, I was tempted, but just can’t find anything I truly love about the colors there, so I thought it better to just back away and wait for a color I actually want or need to go on sale. However, I did think of you guys, so the sale inspired me to share for folks who might happen to like the yarn.

They also have a 3-skein value pack for the Baby’s First Yarn listed for 50% off, and the two colors featured on their front sales page are beautiful. — “Sea Sprite,” which is a mist or mint green, and a peach color called “Twinkle Toes.” Both colors I really love.

Baby Soft Yarn, in a 6-skein value pack is also 75% off
The “Lemon Drop” is a pretty bold, sunshine-y color! I actually like this shade of yellow, and I typically have a very hard time finding yellows and oranges that I think are pretty.
Bellini Yarn, in 3-skein value packs are 75% off too.
Can’t say I’m loving the Bellini line yet either, but I’m pretty excited to see Lion Brand doing a nice sale! Perhaps they’re getting ready for new selections! I’m so ready for new yarn choices right now.
A 3-skein value pack of Cotton Ease is 75% off, but the colors I saw available — greens — were not to my liking, although I have been hoping to pick up some from the Cotton Ease line at some point.

Now the Da Vinci yarn in Oceania, which is also a 3-skein value pack that’s 50% off did catch my eye. I am very fond of those beautiful color combos. I could see some very artsy creations being made from a skein of the colors they had available. My favorite from this line is “Oceania,” the green/blue color combo skein shown below:
They also have a gradient gray/black colored skein.

Festive Fur is also featured on the sales page, in multiple colors and for 75% a 3-skein value pack.
Joann does have Lion Brand’s “Fun” yarn on sale for $1.57
right now, which isn’t half off its usual price of $2.09.
The pink color is gorgeous, but I never buy this yarn because it doesn’t come with much (only 85 yards.)
Caron Natura Acrylic yarn is $1.72 on Joann right now, where it’s usually priced at $2.29.

It appears Lion Brand yarn is marked down on various other shopping sites, including some on Joann. There are several other small-ish yarns marked down a bit on Joann at the moment. Go here to see them all.

As far as ordering off Joann via the internet, I never do that unless I can get free shipping because their shipping fee (comes in around $6 for me) normally is just way too much when you consider your purchase being just a roll or two of yarn. That’s an instant $6 per skein/roll whereas if you went in-store, you’d save that & still be likely to find it marked down.

To shop their entire clearance page yourself here’s the link I found them on. Unfortunately, I’ve yet to get any emails notifying me of any other companies or manufacturers with nice sales today, but perhaps Joann and other companies will jump on the sale wagon soon!

Don’t underestimate crochet’s widespread effect and adoration. Virtually everybody and their mama have owned or do own a piece of crocheted work whether it’s an afghan or a sweater.

While crochet and knitting and most all yarn crafts do have somewhat of a “grandma” reputation, I feel like the crafts aren’t always given the credit they’re due, and I’m pretty sure my fellow crafters would agree. I mean, you spend 6 months working on a small throw or a sweater. Knitting and crochet both require a serious amount of time and work, and not to mention all the brain work that goes into it.

But this is not a rant about the time and effort that goes into creating something with two sticks (or one hook), your hands and a tangled ball of yarn. I’m not here to convince everyone to dig out their old, itchy sweaters handmade by grandma (or the memories of said itchy, old sweaters) and start wearing them again with a newfound, but itchy appreciation. If you can’t appreciate a hand knitted or crocheted item, then that’s totally fine! I think sometimes us yarn crafters tend to expect everyone to be able to love and value our craft, but the truth is, some people simply don’t dig it, and that’s okay.

I am one of those folks who don’t have an eye for art. I look at a painted canvas and my mind starts slowing down. I still appreciate the time and effort that the artist put into their work, but I am not likely to want to hang it on my wall or wear it just because. So really, the same applies to me and my yarn works. I have to remember that not everybody has an “eye” for what I create, and I can be okay with that. I just have to remember it.

That aside, what I actually wanted to discuss is that crochet and knitting might be under-credited crafts when it comes to the reputation it gets. People always think granny when you mention knitting or crochet, but if you look around, the crafts are so amazingly timeless!

Knitted and crocheted items have literally seeped into every corner of the world, every culture and even most categories of shopping. In fact, the granny square is alive and well, even at the start of 2015, the granny square is still being seen in the form of garments and afghans.

In fact, just today (January 2, 2015), I flipped open W Magazine — which is being sent to me unsolicited despite my pleading with the senders to stop wasting paper and resources to send me magazines I never even want or read — and there was a red-headed woman dressed in a funky printed dress with a red, black, and white granny square tank top snugly over it. (MiuMiu)On the right, the exact photograph I described from W Magazine — Designer Miu Miu.
So these timeless crafts are still as big as ever in our world, and here most of us yarn-crafters were thinking we were some of the only folks left on the planet who ran around with needles, hooks and a ball of yarn in our hand (or for some of us, purse).Another example of crochet in high fashion. Image source: Helenrodel.com.br
Crochet and knitting shows up on the runway more often than chiffon. The holiday season always brings new fair aisle sweaters in a brand new color combinations to greet our eyes as many designers crank out new designs and patterns.Another Helen Rodel example. Source: https://www.helenrodel.com.br/news/2014/11/29/helen-rdel-in-shanghai

Even Dolce & Gabbana are well-known for their crocheted pieces, although I can’t honestly say I’m a fan of D&G, and that definitely includes this grandma-tacky bag! And we wonder why crochet gets such a granny-esque air about it?

I’ve added a brand new project to my to-do stash and am actually quite proud of myself for completing it in a somewhat timely manner. This is the octopus I finished just in time for Christmas, and finally had the chance to share him with you guys.

As a matter of fact, he was featured here on Crochet As You Are in one of the recent posts. I thought he was so cute I had to hurry up and make one myself. He is available on Joann as a free pattern, but in order to complete him in a timely manner, that required some tweaking to the size for my own octopus. I also tweaked mine to only use two colors instead of the multiple colors the pattern actually calls for.

I went for simple, so you don’t necessarily have to follow the exact same amount of color changes the pattern calls for. I do recommend using contrasting colors for the eyes, though or else it might look odd. 😉

Another thing that should be mentioned is that the original pattern contains mistakes, so if any of my lovely, fellow crocheters want to create an octopus of your own, I recommend heading over to Gleeful Things where Julie has kindly laid out her own notes for you so that you can avoid the mistakes you’ll run into if you only follow the original pattern. So, bookmark her page or print out the instructions she gives and then begin the octopus from the original pattern. You’ll be glad you did, unless you don’t mind the mistakes, and ending up with a 4-legged octopus! Technically it’s an 8-legged octopus, but if you go the route I did with him, you’ll end up with what appears to be only 4 legs, split at the very ends.

Take a look at the photos to see what I mean. I chose to sew my octopus’ legs all the way to the near bottom that way he ends up with more curl to his legs and it kind of distracts from the fact that he has 4-legs total (8 technically, but not if you sew the entirety of each leg up from top to bottom.)

All this leg talk probably will not make sense to you until you’ve taken a close look at the photos and the pattern for this octopus.

Overall, though, this really wasn’t too complicated to complete. The instructions can be a tad confusing, but most crocheters will probably be able to follow. I just wish I’d have caught the printed mistakes before I started crocheting! I still think he turned out okay since I’m no perfectionist, but if you are one, the legs will probably be a real bother to you until you get them just right, so don’t take any chances and be sure you follow Julie’s instructions for getting past the mistakes.

I just love her color combo for the giant octopus she created!

While on this octopus kick, I came across severely really cool patterns for different octopus, and later wished I’d have chosen one that did not contain mistakes. I thought I’d share my octopus results with you here and also include patterns for a couple of different ones available online for free! Yay for the kind folks willing to give their awesome free patterns, right?

Below, I’ve listed a couple of the free patterns for octopus that I’ve found and think are mighty cute, so you can choose from more than just the one pattern here.

I think the one by Paula Gail is stunning, and appears to be a bit more simple than the one I went with. I’ve actually been hoping to get this one going sometimes on, too! What a interesting yarn color she chose.

2. Mini Octopus by Sarah from Esshaych
These perfectly miniature octopus are much smaller than the first one pictured in this post, but equally adorable octopus are probably going to be a great option if you want to crochet an octopus in a short amount of time.

Aren’t they adorable? I know I can’t seem to resist them, and will more than likely be crocheting one or more myself! I am counting down for the moment I can start on one.